Quick Links

BOTTLING About 10 days after you brew the beer, it should be ready to bottle. Remove a sample of the beer from the fermenter and examine it. It should look, smell, and taste like uncarbonated beer. Prime the beer with corn sugar before siphoning Bottling bucket with spigot PRIME AND BOTTlE Siphon the fermented beer into a bottling bucket. At the same time, pour in the dissolved corn sugar, which will ferment in the bottles and carbonate the beer. Fill each bottle with the primed beer, and seal with a bottle capper. it into the bottles. Priming feeds the beer with a small amount of sugar, which the yeast ferments in the bottle, carbonating the beer. You can use other types of sugar, like malt extract or brown sugar, but I prefer corn sugar because it doesn't change the beer's flavor and the yeast quickly converts it into carbon dioxide. Boil 3;4 cup corn sugar in 1 cup of water for 5 minutes, and then let the solution cool. Siphon the beer from the fermenter to a bottling bucket or any clean 6-gallon container. While the priming container is filling, add the sugar solution and gently stir the beer several times to distribute the corn sugar. The beer is now ready to be bottled. Siphon the primed beer from the priming vessel into the bottles without agitating the beer. Raise the bucket high above the level of the bottles so that gravity will coax the beer into the bottles. Make sure you leave about 1 inch of air space between the beer and the top of the bottle; this is necessary for the beer to carbonate properly. Tightly seal new caps onto the bottles with a bottle capper. Waiting for the beer to mature and carbonate capper is the hardest part. Most beers, including this pale ale, will be fully carbonated and ready to drink within two weeks. The beer still contains live yeast and will continually change. You may notice after a few months that your beer is different from when you first tasted it. It might get better or it might not. Rely on your own preference to guide you in deciding when the beer is ready to drink. ENJOYING THE BEER Although you can serve ale on the cool side, I prefer to taste it first at room temperature to enjoy all the natural flavors and aromas. Decant the beer, leaving behind the yeast sediment that has settled to the bottom of the bottle. A dimpled pint glass is my choice for a pale ale because the large open top lets the beer's lacy head spread out; and the dimples refract the beer's luscious copper color. As you bring the glass to your mouth, inhale RESOURCES To find a beer-supply store near you, look in the yellow pages under Brewers' Equipment & Supplies or Beer Homebrewing Equipment & Supplies; or send a stamped, self-addressed envelope to Home Wine and Beer Trade Association, 604 North Miller Rd., Valrico, FL 33594; 81 3/685-4261 . 64 For more information, contact: The American Homebrewers Association, PO Box 1510, Boulder, CO 80306-1 51 0; 303/447-081 6. Publishes zymurgy magazine five times a year. Provides information on home brewing, homebrew clubs, and beer competitions. deeply. You'll detect sweet malt and floral hop aromas. Hold the beer in your mouth for a moment. You'll notice that it stimulates many parts of your tongue and has a firm feel to it. Swallowing the beer and waiting for the aftertaste are all that remain. David Ruggiero is a nationally certified beer judge and has taught thousands of people to brew beer at his Newton, Massachusetts, brewing-supply store, Barleymalt and Vine .• FINE COOKING